<p>Hey guys, I'm a rising senior at a magnet school in Texas and I'm looking to be chanced for the following schools!</p>
<p>MIT
Duke
Rice
UT
Wellesley
Cornell
Berkeley
Caltech
Columbia </p>
<p>SAT: 2310 (770M, 780W, 760CR)
SATII: BioM- 790, Chem- 790, MathIIC- 750 (retaking later), World History- 680, not sending if possible
ACT: Probably taking in the fall, not really sure if this is necessary but giving it a try just to see what happens.
APs: My school has all dual credit classes but CompSci- 5 and World History- 4.
GPA: 4.0/4.0
I've taken some 4000 level biology courses and I will have taken organic chemistry by the time I graduate (as well as dual credit Bio/Chem/Physics/BC Calc + MVC and the usual History and English courses)
School does not rank</p>
<p>ECs: </p>
<p>A couple of 1st place national and state science competition medals, some scholarships
Bunch of research (Some scholarships, a REU at a pretty well-known research institution, only regional awards though and no publications as of now)
USABO Semis
President of a club and leadership position in the science competition club, debate leadership as well, president of another science competition club.
State finals in Debate
Volunteering, but nothing out of the ordinary
Major: Probably BME or some sort of dual degree with CompSci and Bio. </p>
<p>Ethnicity: Asian (the Chinese kind)
Gender: Female
Income: No advantages here </p>
<p>MIT will be a bit of a reach.
Duke, Caltech and Columbia will be slightly more realistic options. I have a feeling that Columbia might wait-list you before finally admitting you.
You’re looking pretty good for Cornell, Berkeley and Rice.</p>
<p>MIT: Reach
Duke Pratt: Reach
Rice: High match
UT: Safety
Wellesley: Match/High match
Cornell: High match
Berkeley: Match/High match
Caltech: Reach
Columbia: Reach</p>
<p>@AnnaAllOver Is Caltech your first choice? If so, I would recommend you apply early! If not and you really want to maximize your chances at one (but not all) of these schools, apply ED to one of them. I would recommend you ED to Duke or Columbia because these are really good schools and they would instantly become low (as opposed to mid) reaches or even very high matches.</p>
<p>@235423 Caltech or MIT are my first choices but I’m also really considering Columbia and Duke. I’m just worried that if I get into Columbia ED (my school has a pretty good track record at Columbia ED) I won’t get to look at any financial aid options/etc. Is Caltech early beneficial? </p>
<p>Unfortunately, applying to Caltech early will not benefit your chances, because applying early to Caltech is nonbinding, meaning you can apply early to another other nonbinding school. What this means, though, is that you can also apply early to MIT as well as Caltech if you want, because both are nonrestrictive early action programs. It sounds like this is the best bet for you, considering that these are your first choices.</p>
<p>@AnnaAllOver You’re as qualified as anyone in that regard, but they are reaches for everyone (I’d probably say low reach provided you raise your SAT math subject test). What they are looking for, however, is someone with character and passion, especially for MIT. The interview for MIT matters more than any other interview you’ll have, because they put a ton of weight into it. </p>
<p>@AnnaAllOver agree with other comments you seem really good on paper. I believe your essays and recs will be the difference.
MIT: Reach
Duke Pratt: Low-Mid Reach
Rice: High Match
UT: Safety
Wellesley: Match/High match
Cornell: High match
Berkeley: High match
Caltech: Low Reach
Columbia: Low Reach</p>
